Stamped three-dimensional antenna

ABSTRACT

The embodiments described herein include a wireless-power-transmitting antenna formed from a stamped piece of metal. One such antenna includes: (i) a signal feed, defined by a single stamped piece of metal, that conducts a signal that controls wireless power transmission and (ii) resonators, each of which is defined by the single stamped piece of metal, that transmits power transmission waves in response to receiving the signal, where each resonator: (a) is planar with respect to a first plane and vertically aligned with each resonator, (b) is coupled to another resonator via curved sections of the stamped piece of metal that are in contact with the signal feed, each curved section extending along a second plane that is orthogonal to the first plane such that respective gaps are formed between each resonator, and (c) receives the signal via a respective curved section of the single stamped piece of metal.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/930,580, filed on Nov. 2, 2015, entitled “Stamped Three-DimensionalAntenna,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD Background

Wireless charging of batteries of electronic devices has historicallybeen performed by using inductive coupling. A charging base stationreceiver of an electronic device may have one or more coils in which acurrent may be applied to produce a magnetic field such that whenanother coil is place in close proximity, a transformer effect iscreated and power is transferred between the coils. However, suchinductive coupling has a short range limit, such as a few inches orless. Examples of such wireless charging include electronic toothbrushesthat are placed on a charging stand and inductive pads inclusive of oneor more coils to enable electronic devices with coil(s) to be placed onthe pads to be charged.

While inductive charging is helpful to eliminate users having to plugpower cords into electronic devices for charging, the limited range atwhich electronic devices have to be positioned from charging stations isa significant shortcoming of the inductive charging technology. Forexample, if a user of a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, is ina conference room without a charging pad or sufficient number ofcharging pads, then the user is unable to charge his or her phonewithout a traditional power cord.

Remote wireless charging has recently been developed. Remote wirelesscharging operates by generating a wireless signal inclusive ofsufficient power to charge a battery of an electronic device. Suchtechnology, however, has been limited due to technology advancementsbeing a challenge, as transmitters, receivers, antennas, communicationsprotocols, and intelligence of transmitters have all had to be developed(i) so that sufficient wireless power is able to be wirelessly directedto charge electronic devices and (ii) so that the remote wirelesscharging is safe and effective for people. One problem that exists forproducing transmitter antennas is the cost of production due to partsand assembly of the parts to produce the transmitter inclusive ofmultiple, in some cases many, antennas that form an antenna array.

While certain advancements in remote wireless charging have occurred,acceptance of the new technology into homes and businesses (e.g.,conference rooms) often requires design elements that extend beyondfunctionality. As an example, for remote wireless power charging thatenables a transmitter to deliver high gain in small areas,three-dimensional (3D) transmitter antennas may be utilized. However, atfrequencies used for the remote wireless charging of electronic devices,the 3D antennas have sufficiently large dimensions (e.g., depth) thatconsumers and businesses may resist such devices into their homes andoffices as a result of undesirable aesthetics and dimensions that the 3Dtransmitter antennas extend from a wall on which the transmitters aremounted.

SUMMARY

To provide for transmit antennas of a transmitter of a remote wirelesscharging system that are cost effective and commercially acceptable toconsumers and businesses, an antenna may be formed by stamping a pieceof metal to form an “S”-shaped resonator element. The “S”-shaped antennamay be designed to have high gain performance throughinductive-capacitive characteristics. In an embodiment, the antenna mayhave the resonator embedded in a dielectric substrate that enables theresonator element to be reduced in size as compared to the resonatorelement being exposed directly to the air.

One embodiment may include an antenna for transmitting wireless powersignals. The antenna may include multiple horizontal resonator elements,where each horizontal resonator element is at least in part planar,vertically aligned, and in parallel with one another.

One embodiment of a method of manufacturing an antenna may includeproviding a piece of metal. The piece of metal may be stamped to form aseries of horizontal resonator elements and vertical sectionsinterconnecting the horizontal resonator elements along sequentialopposing edges of the horizontal resonator elements to form an“S”-shaped antenna element. The “S”-shaped antenna element may besecured to a base member.

One embodiment of an antenna unit for transmitting a wireless powersignal may include multiple antennas including multiple horizontalresonator elements. Each horizontal resonator element may be at least inpart being planar, vertically aligned, and in parallel with one another.The antennas may be positioned in at least one row to form an array ofantennas.

Additional features and advantages of an embodiment will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription. The objectives and other advantages of the invention willbe realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out inthe exemplary embodiments in the written description and claims hereofas well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings constitute a part of this specification andillustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with thespecification, explain the invention.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an illustrative wireless power environmentin which transmitters are configured to identify locations of one ormore receivers inclusive of stamped antennas, and to communicatewireless power signals to those receiver(s) to form energy pocket(s)thereat, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 2A-2C are illustrations of an illustrative stamped antenna,according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an illustrative alternative stampedantenna, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an illustrative antenna gain patternproduced by the antenna of FIG. 3, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are illustrations of an illustrative alternative antennaconfigured with multiple horizontal resonator elements, according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an illustrative antenna unit inclusive of aplurality of stamped antennas with multiple horizontal resonatorelements, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an illustrative antenna unit inclusive of aplurality of stamped antennas with multiple horizontal resonatorelements, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for producing a 3Dtransmitter antenna inclusive of horizontal resonator elements,according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an illustrative process for producing atransmitter with a 3D transmitter antenna produced using the process ofFIG. 8, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is herein described in detail with reference toembodiments illustrated in the drawings, which form a part here. Otherembodiments may be used and/or other changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Theillustrative embodiments described in the detailed description are notmeant to be limiting of the subject matter presented here. Alterationsand further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein,and additional applications of the principles of the inventions asillustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant artand having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered withinthe scope of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an illustration of an illustrative wireless powerenvironment 100 in which transmitters 102 a, 102 b (collectively 102)are configured to identify a location of an electronic device 104 with areceiver 106 (or multiple receivers) inclusive of one or more receiverantennas (e.g., cross-polarized dipole antenna), and transmit wirelesspower signals or waves to the receiver 106 to cause RF signal formconstructive interference at the receiver 106 is shown. Althoughdepicted with multiple transmitters 102, it should be understood that asingle transmitter may be utilized. The transmitters 102 a, 102 brespectively include antenna arrays 108 a, 108 b (collectively 108)inclusive of respective antenna elements 109 a-109 m, 109 n-109 z(collectively 109). The transmitters 102 are used to transmit wirelesspower signals 110 a, 110 a (collectively 110) via the antenna elements109. In one embodiment, the antenna arrays 108 a, 108 b have the samenumber of antenna elements. Alternatively, the antenna arrays 108 a, 108b have a different number of antenna elements. Still yet, the antennaarrays 108 a, 108 b may have the same or different layouts orconfigurations of antenna elements. The antenna arrays 108 a, 108 b mayhave regularly spaced antenna elements or subsets of antenna elementswith different spacings that are used for different types oftransmissions of the wireless power signal.

Because the transmitters 102 are meant to be positioned in householdsand commercial settings, such as conference rooms, the transmitters 102are to be sized in a manner with a small footprint and/or profile.Although the size of the footprint (e.g., width of overall antennaarrays) in some cases has to have a certain length for creating smallenergy pockets, the profiles (e.g., length of the antenna elements 109along the z-axis that define the distance that the transmitters 102extend from a wall) can be reduced to be more commercially viable foradoption by consumers and businesses.

The transmitters 102 may also include communication components 112 a,112 b (collectively 112) that communicate with the electronic device104. In one embodiment, the receiver 106 may be configured with atransmitter or other circuitry that enables communication with thecommunication components 112, thereby enabling the transmitters 102 tofocus the wireless power signals 110 at the receiver 106 to form anenergy pocket 114. The energy pocket 114 may be a localized region atwhich wireless power waves 110 form constructive interference (i.e.,combined peaks of oscillation signals) that produces a combination ofpeak signals from each of the wireless power signals 110, as understoodin the art.

Because the antenna arrays 108 may have orientations that cause thewireless power signals 110 to be communicated at different polarizationsdepending on an orientation of the electronic device with respect to therespective antenna arrays 108, the receiver 106 may include across-polarized dipole antenna, for example, so that orientation of thereceiver 106 with respect to the antenna arrays 108 has minimal impactin an amount of power that is received from the wireless power signals110.

To provide for cost effective antenna arrays 108, a structure for eachof the antenna elements 109 may utilize a design that has a minimalnumber of parts and simplistic assembly process. In one embodiment, astamped resonator element may be utilized in forming an antenna, andused to transmit a wireless power signal, as shown in FIG. 2. In analternative embodiment, a series of horizontal resonator elements may beseparated by dielectric slabs. In either configuration, the antennaelement is defined by inductive-capacitive elements to enable a wirelesspower signal having a frequency over 900 MHz to be transmitted to chargeor operate a wireless device.

With regard to FIGS. 2A-2C, an illustration of an illustrative stampedantenna resonator element 200 configured to transmit a wireless powersignal is shown. The resonator element 200 is metallic, and configuredto provide a certain inductive-capacitive (LC) response profile fortransmitting a wireless power signal for use in remotely powering anelectronic device and/or recharging a battery, as previously described.In an embodiment, the resonator element 200, when configured into anantenna (e.g., FIG. 3), operates at frequencies in a range from over 1GHz to 100 GHz. More specifically, the center frequency may be about 1GHz, 5.8 GHz, 24 GHz, 60 GHz, and 72 GHz with bandwidths suitable foroperation (e.g., 200 MHz-5 GHz bandwidths), and the dimensions of theresonator element 200 may be configured to accommodate the frequenciesof operation. For example, the design shown in FIG. 2 may be implementedat 5.8 GHz with 12-by-12 mm2 patches that are separated by a 2 mm airgap.

The stamped resonator element 200 may be a stamped piece of metal.Alternative techniques for forming the resonator element 200 may beutilized, as understood in the art. The resonator element 200 includes aplurality of horizontal resonator elements 202 a-202 c (collectively202) interconnected by vertical sections 204 a-204 c (collectively 204).As shown, the vertical sections 204 may not be perpendicular to thehorizontal resonator elements 202, but may provide for a transition thatseparates the horizontal resonator elements 202 by a certain gap thatprovides for a predetermined inductive-capacitive response profile overa certain frequency range of operation. Feet 206 a-206 n (collectively206) may be used to secure the resonator element 200 to a base. Each ofthe horizontal resonator elements may be at least in part planar,vertically aligned, and in parallel with one another. In beingvertically aligned, at least a portion of each of the resonator elements202 are disposed over one another. In one embodiment, the horizontalresonator elements 202 have the same size and shape and are alignedalong a vertical axis.

A signal feed 208 is shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C to be positioned along oneside of the stamped resonator element 200 to conduct RF signals thereto.Alternative signal feed configurations may be utilized to apply an RFsignal onto the resonator element 200. The signal feed 208 may be formedby a stamping operation of a single piece of metal that forms thestamped resonator element 200 or may be formed by another piece of metaland connected to the resonator element 200. Alternatively, an inductiontechnique may be utilized to apply the RF signal to the resonatorelement 200 for transmission of the wireless power signal. A base 208may operate as a ground plane, as understood in the art.

With regard to FIG. 3, an illustration of an illustrative alternativestamped antenna 300 is shown. The stamped antenna 300 includes aresonator member 302 inclusive of a plurality of horizontal resonatorelements 304 a-304 n (collectively 304). Interconnecting each of thehorizontal resonator elements 304 are vertical sections 306 a-306 n-1(collectively 306). A base member 308 may be used to support theresonator member 302. In one embodiment, the base member 308 may operateas a ground plane. As shown, the horizontal resonator elements 304 andvertical sections 306 are normal to one another, and the verticalsections 306 interconnect the horizontal resonator elements 304 onalternating ends of the horizontal resonator elements 304 so as to forman “S”-shaped antenna member. As shown, the horizontal resonatorelements 304 are square, but non-square shapes, such as rectangular, maybe utilized in accordance with a desired antenna gain pattern. Thebottom horizontal resonator elements 304 n may be configured with feet(not shown) that may be utilized to connect the resonator member 302 tothe base member 308. Additional and/or alternative techniques, such asusing an adhesive or fastening member (e.g., screw), for mounting theresonator member 302 to the base 308 may be utilized.

With regard to FIG. 4, an illustration of an illustrative antennapattern 400 produced by the antenna 300 of FIG. 3 is shown. The antennapattern 400 is shown to have a gain of over 9.5 dB along the z-axis witha gain of below −9.5 dB along the negative z-axis. As further providedherein, the antenna pattern 400 is different with differentconfigurations of the antenna (i.e., different configurations of a basemember and antenna element).

With regard to FIGS. 5A and 5B, illustrations of an illustrativealternative antenna 500 configured with multiple horizontal resonatorelements 502 a-502 d (collectively 502) are shown. In one embodiment,and as shown, dielectric slabs 504 a-504 c (collectively 504) may bedisposed between the horizontal resonator elements 502. The dielectricslabs 504 may be used to define a separation distance between thehorizontal resonator elements 502, and provide for aninductive-capacitive response profile or value. A base 506 may beutilized to mount the horizontal resonator elements 502 of the antenna500. A fastening member 508, such as a plastic or metallic screw, may beused to secure the horizontal resonator elements 502 and dielectricslabs 504 to the base 506. Alternative locations (e.g., along the edge)or fabrication techniques (e.g., adhesive bonding, multiple fasteningmembers) may be utilized to secure the horizontal resonator elements 502and dielectric slabs 504 together and to the base 506. The base 506 maybe configured as a ground plane. A feed (not shown) may be used toconduct an RF signal to the horizontal resonator elements 502. In oneembodiment, the feed may be applied along an edge of the horizontalresonator elements 502 or in a center region (e.g., at or near thescrew) of the horizontal resonator elements 502.

With regard to FIG. 6, an illustration of an illustrative antenna unit600 inclusive of a set of antennas 602 a-602 n (collectively 602) withresonator elements 604 a-604 n (collectively 604) that are the same orsimilarly configured as the antenna 300 provided in FIG. 3. It should beunderstood that the antennas 602 may be configured in the same orsimilar manner as antenna 500 of FIG. 5. In one embodiment, the antennas602 are embedded within a substrate 606 a-606 n (collectively 606). Thesubstrate 608 may be formed of ceramic, silicon, or other material thatis a dielectric. The dielectric may have a permittivity greater than 5F/m. The permittivity may be between approximately 9 F/m andapproximately 10 F/m at a center frequency of the wireless signal. Thewireless signal may have a frequency greater than 1 GHz. The stampedmetal structures provide for communication of a wireless signal withmultiple polarizations. There may be two or three differentpolarizations present at the same time. As a result of embedding theantennas 602 in the substrate 608, the dimensions of the resonatorelements 604 and base members may be reduced, thereby enabling a smallerprofile of an overall antenna unit.

A feed point (not shown) may be utilized to conduct a wireless powersignal onto resonator elements 604 to transmit the wireless power signalto an electronic device, as described with regard to FIG. 1. In anembodiment, the antenna unit 600 operates at frequencies in a range fromover 1 GHz to 100 GHz. More specifically, the center frequency may beabout 1 GHz, 5.8 GHz, 24 GHz, 60 GHz, and 72 GHz with bandwidthssuitable for operation (e.g., 200 MHz-5 GHz bandwidths), and thedimensions of the antennas may be configured to accommodate thefrequencies of operation.

With further regard to FIG. 6, the antennas 602 may be disposed withinantenna sub-units 608 a-608 n (collectively 608) defined by waveguidewalls 610 a-610 n+1 (collectively 610) that may be formed of metal orother material that may be used to define the antenna subunits 608 andlimit RF signals to interfere with adjacent antennas. Also defining theantenna sub-units 608 may be ground planes 612 a-612 n (collectively612). Alternative embodiments may not include ground planes that definea portion of the antenna sub-units 608. Each of the antenna sub-units608 a-608 n may include respective substrates 606 a-606 n. Thesubstrates 606 may be the same substrate material. Alternatively,different substrate material may be used for the respective antennasub-units 608, where the substrate in different antenna sub-units 608may have different properties (e.g., different permittivity). Thesubstrates 606 may be ceramic.

In manufacturing the antenna sub-units 608, the waveguide walls 610 andground planes 612 (or non-ground plane bottom structural component) maybe assembled to define the antenna sub-units 608. The antennas 602 maybe positioned within the assembled waveguide walls 610 and ground planes612 that define the antenna sub-units 608, and then the substrates 606may be poured while in a flowable or injectable state to embed theantennas 602 and allowed or activated to transition to a solid state.Electrical conductors (not shown) may be connected to the antennas 602prior to adding the substrates 606. Although shown as being a lineararray, it should be understood that the antenna unit 600 may beconfigured as a 2D matrix of antennas 602, such as the antenna arrays108 shown in FIG. 1.

With regard to FIG. 7, an illustration of an illustrative antenna unit700 inclusive of a plurality of antennas 702 a-702 n (collectively 702)with multiple horizontal resonator elements is shown. In one embodiment,the antenna unit 700 may include a ground plane 704 that in partcontributes to shaping an antenna pattern from the antenna unit 700. Theantennas 702 collectively provide for an array of antennas such that anoverall antenna pattern is formed, and phasing of wireless power signalscommunicated from the array of antennas may enable an antenna pattern tobe directed as understood with phased array antennas. The antenna unit700 does not include waveguide walls, such as the waveguides walls 610of FIG. 6, that help to isolate the antennas 702 from one another toreduce cross-talk. However, the substrate 706 helps attenuate near fieldsignals to reduce cross-talk between adjacent antennas 702. Thesubstrate 706 that embeds multiple antenna elements may be considered acasting. The substrate 706 may be a dielectric, such as a ceramicmaterial or silicon material.

With regard to FIG. 8, a flow diagram of an illustrative process 800 forproducing a 3D transmitter antenna inclusive of horizontal resonatorelements is shown. The process 800 may start at step 802, where a pieceof metal may be provided. At step 804, the piece of metal may be stampedto form a series of horizontal resonator elements and vertical sectionsinterconnecting the horizontal resonator elements along sequentialopposing edges of the horizontal resonator elements to form an“S”-shaped antenna element or resonator member. The “S”-shaped antennaelement may have either perpendicular or curved connections between thehorizontal resonator elements and vertical sections. At step 806, the“S”-shaped resonator member may be secured to a base member. In securingthe resonator member to the base member, feet that are formed during thestamping process may be used to secure the resonator member.Alternatively and/or additionally, the antenna element may be directlyor indirectly secured to the base member using an adhesive and/orfastening members. In one embodiment, the base member may be a groundplane. A dielectric slab may be disposed between the antenna element andbase member.

With regard to FIG. 9, a flow diagram of an illustrative process forproducing a transmitter antenna array with one or more 3D transmitantennas produced using the process of FIG. 8 is shown. The process 900may start at step 902, where a plurality of antennas including aplurality of horizontal resonator elements, each having a length and awidth, are vertically aligned and in parallel with one another. Thevertical alignment may have each of the horizontal resonator elementsbeing centrally aligned. The horizontal resonator elements may beidentical in dimension. Alternatively, the dimensions of the horizontalresonator elements may be different. The forming may be performed bystamping a piece of metal. Alternatively, the forming may includestacking a plurality of horizontal resonator elements with dielectricslabs disposed between the horizontal resonator elements. At step 904,the antennas may be positioned in at least one row to form an array ofantennas.

One embodiment of a device for wirelessly charging a battery may includea transmitter unit including a transmitter and an antenna unit incommunication with the transmitter. The antenna unit may includemultiple 3D antenna elements configured to communicate a wireless signalfor use in charging a battery. The battery may be in a mobile device,such as a mobile telephone. The 3D antenna elements may be a stampedantenna 300 as shown in FIG. 3 or antenna 500 as shown in FIG. 5.

The antenna unit may be configured as a linear array. The linear arraymay be longer than 2 feet. The linear array may be formed by multiplelinear arrays including a space disposed between the multiple lineararrays. The antenna unit may be configured as a matrix. The 3D antennaelements may be regularly spaced. Alternatively, the antenna elementsmay be variably spaced. The 3D antenna elements may be grouped intosub-arrays, and the sub-arrays may be selectable for communicatingwireless signals by the selected sub-arrays. The 3D antenna elements maybe individually selectable or selected in rows or groups. A processingunit may be configured to cause a transmitter to generate a signal, andcommunicate the wireless power signal via the 3D antenna element(s).

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. The steps in the foregoing embodiments may beperformed in any order. Words such as “then,” “next,” etc. are notintended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used toguide the reader through the description of the methods. Althoughprocess flow diagrams may describe the operations as a sequentialprocess, many of the operations can be performed in parallel orconcurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may bere-arranged. A process may correspond to a method, a function, aprocedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination may correspond to a return of thefunction to the calling function or the main function.

The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the following claims and theprinciples and novel features disclosed herein.

1. (canceled)
 2. A wireless-power-transmitting antenna comprising: asignal feed configured to conduct a signal that causes the antenna totransmit power transmission waves; and a unitary resonator formed from asingle piece of metal, the unitary resonator including a plurality ofplanar segments interconnected by respective sections, wherein theplurality of planar segments includes: (i) a first planar segmentpositioned on a first horizontal plane; (ii) a second planar segment,adjacent to the first planar segment, positioned on a second horizontalplane vertically offset from the first horizontal plane by a firstrespective section interconnecting the first and second planar segments;and (iii) a third planar segment, adjacent to the second planar segment,positioned on a third horizontal plane vertically offset from the secondhorizontal plane by a second respective section interconnecting thesecond and third planar segments.
 3. The antenna of claim 2, wherein:the unitary resonator is configured to transmit the power transmissionwaves in response to receiving the signal from the signal feed, thesignal feed being in contact with one planar segment of the plurality ofplanar segments; and the power transmission waves transfer energy thatis used by a wireless power receiver to power or charge an electronicdevice coupled with the wireless power receiver.
 4. The antenna of claim3, wherein the signal feed contacts at least two planar segments of theplurality of planar segments.
 5. The antenna of claim 2, wherein: thesecond planar segment includes opposing first and second edges; thefirst respective section interconnecting the first and second planarsegments extends from the first edge of the second planar segment in afirst direction; and the second respective section interconnecting thesecond and third planar segments extends from the second edge of thesecond planar segment in a second direction.
 6. The antenna of claim 2,wherein the first and second respective sections are curved.
 7. Theantenna of claim 2, wherein the first and second respective sections areperpendicular to the first, second, and third planar segments.
 8. Theantenna of claim 2, wherein the first, second, and third planar segmentsare vertically aligned along an axis.
 9. The antenna of claim 8,wherein: the second planar segment is vertically offset from the firstplanar segment by a first distance; and the third planar segment isvertically offset from the second planar segment by a second distance.10. The antenna of claim 2, wherein: the first planar segment includes aplurality of feet; and the antenna further comprises a base membercoupled to and offset from the first planar segment by the plurality offeet.
 11. The antenna of claim 10, wherein the base member is a groundplane and the ground plane grounds the antenna.
 12. The antenna of claim2, wherein each of the plurality of planar segments is identical in sizeand shape.
 13. The antenna of claim 12, wherein the first distance andthe second distance are the same.
 14. The antenna of claim 2, whereinthe unitary resonator has an S-shape.
 15. The antenna of claim 2,wherein: a space between the first and second planar segments is filledwith a first dielectric material; and a space between the second andthird planar segments is filled with a second dielectric material. 16.The antenna of claim 2, wherein the power transmission waves aretransmitted at a frequency that is based on one or more characteristicsof the plurality of planar segments.
 17. The antenna of claim 16,wherein one of the one or more characteristics is aninductive-capacitive response.
 18. A wireless-power-transmitting devicecomprising: a plurality of wireless-power-transmitting antennas, whereineach wireless-power-transmitting antenna comprises: a signal feedconfigured to conduct a signal that causes the antenna to transmit powertransmission waves; and a unitary resonator formed from a single pieceof metal, the unitary resonator including a plurality of planar segmentsinterconnected by respective sections, wherein the plurality of planarsegments includes: (i) a first planar segment positioned on a firsthorizontal plane; (ii) a second planar segment, adjacent to the firstplanar segment, positioned on a second horizontal plane offset andaligned from the first horizontal plane by a first sectioninterconnecting the first and second planar segments; and (iii) a thirdplanar segment, adjacent to the second planar segment, positioned on athird horizontal plane offset and aligned from the second horizontalplane by a second section interconnecting the second and third planarsegments.
 19. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim 18,wherein the plurality of planar segments is: configured to transmit thepower transmission waves in response to receiving the signal from thesignal feed that is in contact with at least one planar segment of theplurality of planar segments; and the power transmission waves transferenergy that is used by a wireless power receiver to power or charge anelectronic device.
 20. The wireless-power-transmitting device of claim18, wherein: the second planar segment includes opposing first andsecond edges; the first respective section interconnecting the first andsecond planar segments extends from the first edge of the second planarsegment in a first direction; and the second respective sectioninterconnecting the second and third planar segments extends from thesecond edge of the second planar segment in a second direction.
 21. Thewireless-power-transmitting device of claim 18, wherein the first andsecond respective sections are curved.